PHOTO OF THE DAY: NOD TO THE PIONEERS
This historic photo of Pioneer Hall is featured in today’s Facebook post by Heritage Hall Museum & Archives, which every Monday offers a historical look back at something in the Freeman community. The following text is also included.
On Friday, March 13, 1959 – 65 years ago this week – this building was home to a tenth-anniversary celebration. The Freeman Academy Women’s Auxiliary invited their members to bring ethnic dishes unique to their traditions; they traced their roots to the Hutterites, Low German Mennonites and Swiss Amish. They called the celebration of the organization’s first meeting a decade earlier “Schmeckfest” (a word they invented). Little did they know it would become an annual event that has gained nationwide attention … and continues this week.
Pioneer Hall was built in 1949-50; it was dedicated on May 28, 1950. Three months later, local Mennonite churches hosted the 1950 summer triennial national meeting of the General Conference Mennonite Church there. Nearly 2,500 attendees came from across the United States and Canada.
Pioneer Hall was a game-changer (pardon the pun); it was the largest venue in the community.
The previous gym/auditorium, built in 1923, was half the size.
The Freeman Public School gymnasium was located on the bottom floor of the three-story classroom building built at Third and Wipf in 1925; a separate public school gym wasn’t built until 1957.
The second floor of Freeman City Hall built in 1912, was an auditorium, not a gym and also half the size of Pioneer Hall.
Pioneer Hall featured a college-sized basketball court and bleachers. A spacious stage, coupled with wooden benches, made it an auditorium that could seat 1,000. And with a full kitchen and dining hall in the basement capable of serving 550, Pioneer Hall quickly became THE place to hold meetings, banquets, programs, concerts and special events in in the decades that followed.
It was home to Freeman’s Achievement Days, an annual late winter multi-day community gathering featuring exhibits, programs and entertainment. Businesses and organizations rented Pioneer Hall for their annual meetings, customer-appreciation and sales events. It was home to public concerts, stage productions, worship services and revival meetings. Often, the events included meals prepared and served in the dining hall by the Freeman Junior College and Academy Auxiliary. That included wedding and anniversary celebrations and banquets.
All of this was, of course, in addition to the primary reason for its construction, to serve the college and academy students. In addition to the auditorium-gymnasium and dining hall, it included a bookshop, dressing rooms, locker rooms and spacious lobbies on both levels.
Pioneer Hall was built using materials from a theater that had been dismantled and moved from the Sioux Falls Air Base in the late 1940s. The walls were built using a local product called Brickcrete, manufactured locally by FJC&A faculty members, Gerhard Toews and Edwin P. “Nez” Graber.
“Built at a cost of over $85,000 plus some 30,000 man-hours of donated labor, this monument to community cooperation is now in full use,” author Marie Waldner wrote in “For Half A Century,” a book written in 1950 chronicling the first 50 years of Freeman Junior College and Academy.
While the construction of Sterling Hall moved most sporting events out of Pioneer Hall in 2008, it remains an important part of both the Freeman Academy campus and community life. Schmeckfest is an obvious example, but it’s been the go-to place for theater including the Freeman Area Children’s Choir musicals and summer theater productions over the years. It’s the site of the annual MCC Sale. It continues to be used for a wide range of programs. It’s been used for funerals.
There have been major and minor renovations over the years, including a new exterior and being physically connected to Sterling Hall. And as was the case in 1959, it continues to be the venue for the Schmeckfest meal and evening entertainment.
As neighbors to the south of the campus, we’re looking forward to welcoming Schmeckfest guests to our museum this week. We’re open from 10 to 7 on both Friday and Saturday, the 15th and 16th to give guests a deeper look into the history and traditions of this community.
You’ll find details here: https://heritagehallmuseum.com/museum.
